Too Soon To Say Goodbye
by winghearted
Summary: Cloud watches in disbelief and agony as Aerith is stolen from him in front of his eyes. Oneshot.


Cloud wiped the sweat from his brow as they descended down the steep stairway. He could see her now; Aerith knelt at the altar, broken stone crumbled around her; rays of light descended from the cracks in the structure above.

They paused for a moment as they examined their surroundings, watching the flower maiden in her still and serene position. A shiver ran down Cloud's spine; the Forgotten City was ethereally beautiful, a broken display of elegance. Yet the abandoned city seemed to fill his heart with trepedition; he had an awful feeling being here. The ill feeling seemed to fade as he watched his friend, a slight wave of relief washing over his mind. Her eyes were closed and her face was peaceful, yet Cloud could tell as he studied her face that she was concentrating. Her hands were clasped together imploringly, and she seemed completely unaware of their presence, although Cloud was positive she must have heard them descending.

Barret made to move forward, but Cloud raised his hand to stop him. "I'll go," he told Barret and Tifa; something told him he needed to approach the girl in pink by himself. Barret stepped back as Tifa nodded to Cloud. They watched him as he made his way across the stone steps to Aerith's lone position in the broken gazebo.

As he stood in front of her, a flash of cold settled over his body; he suddenly felt numb. _What is this?_

Exhaustion pooled into his limbs; his mind felt foggy and lost. He stumbled toward Aerith drunkenly, but she paid him no heed. She simply knelt in her praying position, talking to ghosts he couldn't see or hear.

And suddenly, Barret was yelling at him and Tifa was screaming.

"Stop it!" Her voice bounced off the walls, shrill and frightened. It took him a moment to realize that it was he, Cloud, that Tifa was screaming at; the leaden fear in her voice was aimed at him.

He stepped back. He had unsheathed his sword...

_He had unsheathed his sword and aimed it at Aerith_.

His heart beat frantically, panic still fresh in his blood with the realization of what he had almost done.

"Ugh...what are you making me do..." he gasped, frustrated. He shook his head frantically, trying somehow to regain hold of himself.

The sound of his voice seemed to snap Aerith out of her trance; as he trembled, struggling to gain complete control, she looked up at him. Soft, emerald met his glowing, electric blue; as they gazed at each other, Cloud could feel the influence leaving his body. He tried to relax, but perhaps the panic was still written upon his face, because it was at that moment that she smiled at him. Her eyes lit up as she gazed at him serenely, apparently oblivious to the fact that he just tried to kill her. But Cloud could tell she knew; she was smiling at him for his benefit. And it worked - tranquility flooded his veins as he slowly relaxed.

_It's alright_, her eyes seemed to say. _Everything's fine._

Time seemed to freeze as they stared at each other, but Cloud could feel it again. That strange foreboding fear washed over him, and the light above them seemed to give way.

It happened quickly then, almost before his mind could really process it.

The blade pierced through her back, sharp and vicious, yet not a drop of blood spilled; Cloud watched in horrified fascination as the Masamune drove the life out of the delicate flower maiden in front of him.

Her last gaze was upon Cloud. He could see the pain in her features, yet she didn't make a sound; on the inside, Cloud felt himself screaming in agony, unable to move, in complete shock. _NO!_

He could hear his teammates behind him, Tifa's scream of rage and Barrett's stream of explicitives - yet somehow, he just couldn't process it. As the blade tauntingly withdrew from her back, a beautiful green and pearl material fell from her hair, falling gently into the still water surrounding them.

He found himself reaching for her as her eyes closed, grabbing her and cradling her gently as her body slumped to the floor.

"...Aerith," he whispered, shaking her numbly, willing her to open her eyes, to cry, or...or... _something, anything_! "This...this can't be real!"

He could hear Sephiroth behind him, but he didn't care - the agony in him was slowly subsiding into a numb disbelief. He couldn't move; he couldn't breathe. He felt shell-shocked as he shook her frantically, silently begging her to wake up.

"Do not worry," Sephiroth was saying to him, supremely unconcerned over Cloud's obvious state of devastation. "Soon the girl will become part of the Planet's energy. All that is left is to go North," he droned on; he sounded delighted. "The 'Promised Land' waits for me over the snowy fields. There I will become a new being by uniting with the planet. As will this girl-"

"Shut up," Cloud interrupted, his fingers still clenched around Aerith. He gazed into her face, raising a hand to gently brush her hair from her eyes. He was shaking, but the torrent of emotions had descended upon him so quickly he wasn't even sure what he was feeling. It was utterly unbearable. "The cycle of nature and your stupid plan don't mean a thing. Aerith...is gone," he lamented. His chest felt funny and tight. "Aerith will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry, or get angry..." he paused as the reality of what he was saying set in. Sephiroth was watching him with amused curiosity, his deadly blade dangling carelessly from his hand. "What about us? What are WE supposed to do?!" He clutched her body closer to him, tormented. "What about my pain? My fingers are tingling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning!"

"What are you saying?" Sephiroth asked him, an expression of confusion etched on his face. His eyes were bright with bloodlust, sunken in by dark circles. Yet he wore a smile. "Are you trying to tell me you have feelings too?" he asked, genuinely curious now.

Cloud gently settled Aerith against the pillar, gazing into her face once more before he wheeled around to face Sephiroth. The grief was still there, but he could feel the fury growing in him; it was reaching it's boiling point and he felt like he was about to explode. "Of course!" he rasped, his sight blurring. "Who do you think I am?!"

Sephiroth laughed then; Tifa and Barrett were suddenly beside him, their faces drawn in disbelief and fury. Cloud felt Barrett seething beside him, the air on fire with his anger; Tifa's eyes were deadly as she gazed upon their foe, hands positioned in fists and ready to kill.

"Stop acting as if you were sad," Sephiroth said, bored. He rolled his eyes. "There's no need to act as if you're angry, either. Because, Cloud - you are..." he grinned at them, a crazed ecstacy lighting in his eyes.

There was a flash of blue light and suddenly JENOVA appeared in front of them; the monstrosity howled as it aimed at Barrett, shooting a flurry of blue energy towards him. Tifa smashed her titanium-strength fists into the creature's side; it reared it's head, turning towards her, but Cloud had had enough. Drawing all his energy, he raised his buster sword and concentrated as he threw himself at JENOVA. His strikes were swift and precise, and he struck the demon again and again and again long after it had finally stopped moving.

'_A puppet_,' a voice sing-songed at him, tauntingly.

"Cloud," he heard Tifa said tearfully behind him.

He slowly lowered his sword, gasping for air, splattered with blood and flesh. He stared down at the lifeless lump of chopped flesh that lay strewn at his feet. Slowly, he turned towards his companions...towards _her_.

Barret gazed at Aerith's lifeless form, his face etched with grief. A stillness had set in around the bulky male, his hands clenched at his sides. He didn't speak, but simply put his hand on Cloud's shoulder, shaking his head. Slowly he walked away as Tifa approached Aerith. Cloud watched as Tifa gently stroked the older woman's hair, tears beginning to spill from her gentle brown orbs. She began to tremble as she gently touched Aerith's face, until it seemed she could no longer stand it. With an anguished cry, she jumped up and fled, her hand covering her eyes as if trying to hold the tears in.

Cloud simply stood there for a moment. The weight of his grief seemed to be growing with each passing second as he regarded Aerith's body, memories flooding through his mind. The first time they'd met, buying one of her flowers. Her amused and slightly evil smile as she donned Cloud in a wig and silk dress, disguising him as a beautiful woman so they could rescue Tifa. The sound of her laugh, the smell of her hair. The sincerity of her words as she told Cloud she wanted to know him - the real him.

_But now she never could._

The lump in his throat began to ache, but he simply knelt down and softly lifted her body, hugging her to him. He cradled her fragile body against his endearingly, her skin still warm. The look on her face was so beautiful and tranquil, she might have been sleeping.

His legs felt heavy as he carried her to the lake. It was gorgeous, a resplendent sight. _Aerith probably enjoyed the view here._ The water was clean and clear and blue.

_I'm sorry I couldn't protect you_. His hands still clasped her to him; part of him wanted to hold on and never let go. _Aerith. I wanted you to know me, too..._


End file.
